RNS-D to RNS-E instructions?

JamieOS

JamieOS

Resident Eejit
Joined
Aug 17, 2015
Messages
229
Reaction score
42
Points
28
I bought an RNS-E a while ago and have tried to swap it out myself, but I can't get it to power off when I remove the key from my car. It also doesn't display any info on the DIS. I was given a Symphony 2 to RNS-E adapter by the lad I bought it from, as well as the original plug with the wires cut. I've put a picture of a near identical (if not identical) adapter below. I've read online that you have to bypass some TMC module in the boot and bridge some wires. I wont actually be doing it myself, since I have a fella installing some parking sensors from a crashed B4 onto mine, so he will be ripping the boot apart anyway. I was basically trying to get some clear instructions for him so he knows exactly what he is doing. Car wiring is one of those things that just goes above my head.

DSCN1106.jpg


Here are a few links with info I've found. would any of these be helpful for the chap doing the wiring?

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/rns-d-to-rns-e-a-unique-problem-it-seems.155047/
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/rns-d-to-rns-e-again.153420/
http://audiforum.us/threads/a4-b6-12-2003-rns-d-to-rns-e.4387/
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...hpY2tzLmNvbXxuc3hqcnxneDpiYmRjYjViMDkyZWI4ZmY

Sorry if this all seems a bit daft, but I'd really like to make sure the job gets done right.
 
If you need a professional installer then give me a shout as I can install this as required :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: chrsi and JamieOS
NHN said:
If you need a professional installer then give me a shout as I can install this as required :)
Click to expand...
I wish I could, but assuming you are in the UK I can't, because I'm in Ireland. If I was in the UK, I'd be have you install it in a heartbeat.
 
mine doesn't turn off when you remove the key (in terms of you can hear the fan going) its how it is, it will switch off after a few minutes of inactivity.

@NHN - do you just install these or do you also do repairs?
 
I left mine for a good 4 minutes without it powering off at all. I thought it did power off on its own at one point, but it was after waiting far longer than I'd be comfortable with. I might just try timing it. I can't remember exactly how long it took, but it was probably around 10-15 minutes.
 
Ok thats longer than mine, easy test is to get in the car remove the key and lock the doors and see how long it took, i think it was supposedly around 5mins if it thinks the cars locked, and longer otherwise.
 
The screen should shut off and sound will go off as soon as they keys are removed from the car. It will stay on standby most for a little while until the hazard triangle goes off. If the screen is staying on then I'd say the ignition feed is wrong on the loom and may need switching. I think when I did mine I had to change some wires around on the loom
 
yes mine does that when i remove the keys and goes into standby mode.
 
Mine just stays playing music/radio. I didn't get to time it yet. My RNS-D displays a message about TP or something and then shuts right off after about 5 seconds.
 
Well, I tried timing it today. 15 minute and it still didn't stop playing music. I didn't adjust anything on it while timing it.

While I'm at it, does anyone have a headphones or AUX input fitted to their RNS-E? I'll need to get one so I can plug in my phone for music.
 
If it's not going off once the key is removed then it sounds like it's coded incorrectly

To add AUX to the rns-E you'll need the 32 pin AV plug, it will also require coding for aux
777015ee8b40b8f76db35db085e93c2d.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: JamieOS
The thread you referenced above was mine.

Basically, you do the usual things you need to do for the Concert/Symphony systems; using the adapter harness and coding with VCDS but replacing the RNS-D also requires:
  1. Stripping out the two CAN wires from the 26-pin connector and splicing them to the CAN wires on the RNS-E harness.
  2. Bypassing the TMC module.
It's all in that thread:

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/rns-d-to-rns-e-a-unique-problem-it-seems.155047/
 
  • Like
Reactions: JamieOS
Thanks for the reply, Cobra. So the CAN wires from the 26-pin connector are being spliced into the RNS-E Adapter? Does anything plug need to plug into the RNS-Es 32-pin adapter, or is that just left empty (just wondering so I can install the AUX connector that 1wheelonly recommended). Also, is there anything that needs coding using VCDS? I know I need to do it for the AUX connector and I think the CD player (RNS-D 6 CD in the glovebox). I don't have access to VCDS, but the garage installing the Parking sensors and all that probably will, or a chap I know might have it or know someone who does.
 
Yes, it's explained in post 4 on that thread and expanded upon further down. I can't remember for definite since I did it along time ago but I think only two of the new harness's plugs go into the RNS-E and the others are unused.

Yes, you need to code it with VCDS - it needs to know what equipment you have installed. There are plenty of threads for that as well as the Ross-Tech wiki.

The RNS-D CD player won't work with the RNS-E if it's a 'C' model (check model code) so you might need to buy a 'D' model. I did but ended up selling it because I only used the SD cards.
 
Would that have any effect on an ECU remap by overwriting anything? Roughly where on the RssTech site should I be looking? I had a look in the Table of Contents under Retrofitting, but the RNS-E Retrofit is grayed out. I did a quick search of the Forum and couldn't find anything either.

I reckon my CD player is a C model. I'm not too bothered about it. I can just slap a bunch of CDs on the SD cards and my phone.
 
No, it's not overwriting a map; it's just telling the ECU what equipment you have. I think it's channels 37 and 56 (and possibly 17).

Us the ToC and go to to the Audi link.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JamieOS
Ah, I'm starting to understand things a little better now. What was your RNS-E like before it was coded? Any sound from the SD card/CD changer, radio reception etc.?
 
I think it was okay, it just worked independently from the car (no illumination or DIS information and it didn't power on and off at the accessory position).

Tip: you can plug the existing GPS antenna into the RNS-E - it's a little smaller so you might have to tape it in place but you'll get much better reception from the one on your roof than sticking a new one in your dash.
 
Another quick question, if you don't mind. Is the DIS in your car the standard or the colour DIS? I'm not sure if it matters or not, but mines the colour one.

I've got everything ready to go, AUX cable and all. I've figured out the wires that need to be spliced all that, but the guy doing it might not know how to do all the coding or not. He says he's not been asked to do something like that, but it shouldn't be too hard anyway. I think I might even have an idea how to do it, if he'll lend me access to his VCDS software for a while. Fingers crossed it will all go well and easy without too many complications.

My only worry is that where are two wires in the main connector for the RNS-D that don't seem to be attached to any female jacks in the block connector. They are just loose. I pulled both out by accident the last time I pulled out the RNS-D and put them back where I thought they went and everything worked fine.
 
Also, can you recall what codes you changed each channel to be (channels 17, 37 and 56 as you mentioned.) For me, 37 would be coded as 030141 (although some forum posts and a youtube video I've seen say 030151 is correct. Am I reading the resstech site wrong http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Audi_Radio/Navigation_System_(RNS-E)#Coding). Apparently 56 is the same (rosstech site links both channels coding to the same page). I'm not really sure what to do with channel 17. I don't know which of the two I have. Rosstechs site has two options. All I know is that mine has the colour DIS.
 
S4s have the colour DIS too.

The RNS-E only uses the two pins from the RNS-D connector for the CAN, nothing else.

Looking at that Ross-Tech page, my coding would have been 0311112 at the time. It seems a bit odd that the '+1' can apply to two different options on those last two designations but perhaps the system doesn't care which one you have out of the two options. I don't know.

For channel 17 - B6s are 8E2/8E5/8H7 so I guess it would be 000040.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JamieOS
I guess I'll just have to give it a shot and hope nothing goes wrong. If something does go wrong, I'm kinda screwed. The internet by this guys garage is pretty spotty, which is all too common for Ireland, so I won't be able to google things looking for a solution too easily.
 
My car is going in on Thursday to have parking sensors and the RNS-E fitted.

Just to clarify, what do you mean by bypassing the TMC module? What exactly has to be done to bypass it? From a quick google search, it just has two aerials and a 12 pin connector, correct? You mentioned that you bridged Pin 1 (orange/brown) to pin 9 (grey/red) and Pin 2 (orange/purple) to pin 8 (grey/white), but the 3rd link I posted in the main post says to bridge pin 2 and 8, and pin 3 and 9. Could it just be trial and error there? I can't find any wiring diagram for it.

EDIT: Something just crossed my mind when looking at the Channel 17 coding. My car is Quattro, so does that mean the coding is 000140 instead of 000040?
http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Audi_A4_(8E)_Instrument_Cluster_(8E2/8E5/8H7)#Coding
 
Last edited:
I can't find any solid figures online. A lot of it is just speculation by people. I wont worry too much about it.

Whats still got me confused is the whole +1 and +2 thing in the code. I don't get why some parts of the code have a plus in front of the number. Like for the radio. Take a look at the one below. The first part (03xxxxx for Audi) makes sense. The second part has me confused. Does +1 and +2 mean that it can have a value of 0 for nothing? That seems to be what was done in the video below. So that makes it 0301xxx so far, although I'm not sure if the optical parking aid needs to be coded in so it might be 0321xxx but we'll leave that out for now. I've got no phone installed so 03011xx. The last two values have "+1 = Standard/Basic Value - Add to the Sum of Options below", so that must mean that 1 is the standard value. I'm starting to think that +1 or +2 etc means 0+1 or 0+2. In the video the second last number is 5, so that must mean 1+4 for the Aux input. The last number is either going to be 1 or 2. I have a TV tuner, but its for the RNS-D and it doesn't work anymore anyway. I guess its more trial and error for that.

I'm sorry if I'm rambling. I thought I might as well post that nonsense incase anyone else gets as confused as I did about all this stuff.

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Audi_Radio/Navigation_System_(RNS-E)#Coding
 
0xxxx?x: Equipment I
+1 = Standard/Basic Value - Add to the Sum of Options below
+1 = Audi Music Interface (AMI/PR-UF7) installed
+2 = Satellite Radio (SIRIUS/XM) installed
+4 = Analog Input (AUX/P

Yes basic sum is 1
So with aux ( +4 ) will make it 5

That's how it works on those sections of the coding because you can have multiple options attached

The other sections are pre determined numbers as they are already totalled up for you for the set options available

For instance :

1 = Lamborghini
2 = Audi A3 8p

Therefore 1 = lambo + 1
= 2 Audi A3 8p

Exactly the same as the aux but it's been done for you
 
Well, TMC module bypassed, information showing on DIS and key turning off the sat nav, but there is another problem. We can't seem to get the security access code (5 digit code) to be able to recode the sat nav. It should show up automatically when you hold your mouse over it, but its not. Any ideas?
 
Job done! All up and running. SD cards are showing up as corrupted, but that might just be the way I formatted them. Everything works as I want it to. I don't know how he did the UAX in the end, but the job got done anyway. He said the code ended up being XXXXX53 instead of XXXXX51. The AUX input wouldn't show up on screen otherwise.

V138TTdl.jpg


The only bad thing is that the parking sensors wouldn't work. He didn't go into detail, but the car or computer wasn't recognizing that they were installed, despite following the wiring diagram and trying a few different things. I think I might just get a set off ebay or maybe get a nice surface mount kit or something. Now I've got a diesel GMBH bumper parking factory parking sensors just lying about. I've got a 1.8T bumper on my A4, so its not going to be any good to me. I might see if a chap I know might take it in as a trade for an S4 bumper. That might look nice on my car.
 
XXXXX53
The 5 is for the aux
The 3 is for cd changer or iPod

So even at XXXXX51 aux should still show
ec92ea052c849d89139fbcdf1e5e29a5.jpg
 
Maybe he was talking about the CD changer. Al he said is that it (didn't specify what "it" was) wouldn't show up on the screen with XXXXX51. I just assumed he meant that AUX because that wasn't there in the first place. The CD changer doesn't work regardless , as far as I know. Its the older model. I might give it a try anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cobraBLACK
RNS-D to RNS-E...Again
Replies
14
Views
10K
cobraBLACK
cobraBLACK
cobraBLACK
RNS-D to RNS-E - A Unique Question...
Replies
4
Views
1K
cobraBLACK
cobraBLACK
Widemonkeys
Rns-e/d question
Replies
1
Views
818
BILKO1
B
Az
RNS-D to RNS-E, now glovebox cd changer doesn't work......
Replies
0
Views
1K
Az
Az
neil ratcliffe
rns/d install.
Replies
5
Views
840
Mike.M
Mike.M
Top
Back